I've seen no mention of risk to fine art in the context of the horrendous fires in Los Angeles, California - so decided to see what I could find.
It seems to me there are four main risks
- The Art Galleries housing fine art (eg Getty Museum; Los Angeles Museum of Art)
- The Security Archives holding art bought as an investment
- The Archives of individual artists with homes in the area - such as David Hockney
- The homes of very rich people who buy art - I mourn the loss of the art...
Art Galleries - appear OK
I remember back in 2019, during the last really bad wildfires near Los Angeles, being extremely impressed with the precautions that the Getty Museum had taken in relation to risks from potential natural disasters.
This time the Getty seems to be in the clear again - and this is part of the reason why How LA's Getty Center built a fire-proof fortress for priceless art
I plugged in "Art Galleries in Los Angeles, CA" into Google Maps to see how close the major art galleries were to the six fires.
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Fires are marked by a flickering fire motif North: Hurst Fire Central: Sunset Fire West: Pacific Palisades Fire East: Eaton Fire |
It looks as if most of the main galleries (eg Los Angeles County Museum of Art) are all in built up areas which are more unlikely to wildfire - although who can tell given the extreme high winds carrying fiery embers all over the city
West of Pacific Palisades the fire seems to be burning its way along Malibu down to the coast.
News reports indicate the following
